Another popular fashion (similar to the case of Napoleon III)
was imitating the wild beard of Maximilian, younger brother of
Austrian Emperor Franz Josef I. With French help, Maximilian became
Emperor of Mexico, but in the following civil war, his adventurous
life was ended by a republican execution squad. His pride in his
ginger beard even contributed to his death, when he refused to
escape capture by hiding in a nunnery, since shaving off his beard
was out of the question.